There are a couple of things we know for sure about Elon Musk. He’s brilliant, he’s a billionaire, and he’s dead set on changing the world for the better, whether that be weening us off unsustainable energy with Tesla or making us a multi-planet species with SpaceX. We know he can’t be Tony Stark, but given his penchant for changing the game, we can’t know for sure when he is joking.
Yesterday, Musk had a meeting at the Pentagon with Secretary of Defense Ash Carter. The meeting could have been about anything. It could have been about winning more contracts for SpaceX or simply consulting on some tech that the government has planned. But because we can’t know for sure if Musk is about to unveil the Mark V, rumors started swirling. Musk himself expertly fueled those rumors, tweeting that the meeting concerned a “flying metal suit…”
Something about a flying metal suit…https://t.co/6Z1D9iZ1fV
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 9, 2016
While Musk could absolutely be consulting on the US government’s various exoskeleton programs (who else would you call?), it’s more likely that this is an expert-level troll. Consider that Elon knows: 1. anything he tweets will make the news 2. people always compare him to Tony Stark and 3. a Pentagon meeting would suggest something weapons-related.
His tweet was the perfect thing to say if everyone thinks he’s close enough to Tony Stark that we will believe anything he says. Heck, I believe it, partly because I’ve never seen them in the same room, partly because I trust in Musk.
But in all seriousness, Musk doesn’t have to be making an Iron Man suit to solidify his position as a true visionary. His recent interview at the Recode conference (below) lays out nearly everything Musk is interested in, from making the perfect electric car to pondering whether or not we live in a simulation. The whole hour and a half is worth a watch:
What do you think? Is Elon just trolling us, or is he really consulting on Iron Man suits at the Pentagon (nah). Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Image: RECODE
